Innovative Intermodal Urban Freight Transport Solution

城市供应链饱受道路拥堵之苦，也是道路拥堵的一个重要因素。据估计，商业效率的降低、空气污染的增加、公路网的破坏等每年给英国经济造成320亿英镑的损失。鼹鼠城市概念旨在通过将两种行之有效的减少拥堵影响的方法(城市整合中心边缘和基于市中心的电动面包车)与管道运输胶囊联系起来，降低城市地区的道路货运水平，每种方法都能够运载两个全尺寸托盘。虽然直通管道的好处是显而易见的，但资本成本和发展时间表被认为是一个主要的可行性问题。这个项目的目的是为特定的市区地点建立商业案例和一个现实的发展时间表。它建立在摩尔解决方案公司(MSL)之前对大宗产品运输的研究基础上：1)DEFRA资助/DFT管理的研究，以评估8条管道运输集料的可行性；2)智能概念验证赠款；3)原型赠款的开发；2014年的产出是一个可操作的演示。这些研究表明，单个技术是可用的，创新来自于将这些技术结合到一个非常经济高效、社会可接受和对环境影响小的货运解决方案中。演示吸引了公共部门的兴趣；城市内货运管道的潜力。北安普敦议会、LEP和大学都热衷于了解将散装概念修改为北安普敦托盘输送系统的可行性。这将为全球城市应用提供一个模型。该项目将：a)建立大规模示范系统所需的技术变革，b)确定经济可行性的限度(资本和运营成本，产能利用率)，c)评估不同情景的社会环境影响，d)确定变革的“障碍”，e)制定现实的发展计划。

Urban supply chains suffer from, and are a significant contributor to, road congestion. Theloss of business efficiency, increase in air pollution, damage to the road network etc. areestimated to cost the UK economy £32bn/year. The Mole Urban Concept is aimed at reducingthe level of road freight within urban areas by linking two proven congestion impact reductionmethods (edge of city Consolidation Centres and inner city based electric vans) with pipelinescarrying capsules, each capable of carrying two full sized pallets. Whilst the benefits offreight pipelines are readily appreciated, the capital cost and development timescales areconsidered major viability concerns.This project aims to establish the business case for a specific urban location and a realistictimetable for development. It builds on previous studies by Mole Solutions (MSL) for thetransport of bulk products: 1) DEFRA funded/DfT managed study to assess the feasibility offreight pipelines to transport aggregates, 2) a Smart Proof of Concept Grant and 3) aDevelopment of Prototype Grant; output being an operational demonstrator in 2014. Thesehave shown that individual technologies are available, the innovation comes from combiningthese into a very cost effective, socially acceptable and low environmental impact freightsolution.The demonstrator attracted interest from the public sector; the potential for freight pipelineswithin cities. Northampton Councils, LEP and University are all keen to understand thefeasibility of modifying the bulk concept to a pallet carrying system for Northampton. Thiswould provide a model for urban applications globally.This project will: a) establish technology changes required from the bulk demonstratorsystem, b) determine limits of economic viability (capital and operating costs, capacityutilisation), c) estimate the socio-environmental impact for different scenarios, d) identify‘barriers to change’ & e) prepare a realistic development programme.